Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said that EU leaders should not prioritize Ukraine over the Western Balkans when deciding whether to start accession talks next month. The Austrian Foreign Minister said this in an interview with the Financial Times.
Schallenberg expressed his belief that when looking at both regional groups, geostrategic aspects should be taken into account and avoiding favoring one group over the other.
He noted that it is necessary to avoid a "geostrategic disaster" where one group moves faster than the other.
Regarding the possibility of a veto on the start of accession talks with Ukraine if negotiations with Bosnia do not begin, Schallenberg noted that discussions are going in the right direction, but urged not to create problems for the region, which has been waiting for movement for 20 years.
He expressed his belief that Ukraine may never become part of the EU under the old approach and emphasized the need for a new, phased approach that would bind candidate countries to the EU before granting them the benefits of full accession.
He also warned against the slow progress on Serbia. "Nothing is moving for the people of Serbia... For the first time we have a poll in Serbia where a relative majority no longer supports the European Union. This should ring all our alarm bells. We are losing them," Schallenberg emphasized.
